[2] Karachay horses are summered in rugged mountain country where there are wide changes in temperature and humidity, and wintered in the foothill and plains with some hay feeding.

They have a long head, often with a Roman nose, as well as agile, alert ears and well-developed whiskers.

Karachay horses have a medium length, well-muscled neck, relatively straight shoulders and low withers.

It was first bred for military and agricultural use, by Karachays around the 14th-15th centuries in the climatic and geographical conditions of the North Caucasus.

The German researcher Peter Simon Pallas (1793) wrote: "They grow a small but hardy and hot breed of horses, known for their outstanding qualities".

[9] At the end of the 19th century there were local stud farms in Karachay where some herds included 500-1000 horses.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Karachay played a significant role, supplying most of the Kuban Cossack army`s regiments with chargers.

In one month the same horses finished a race from Piatigorsk to Rostov, a distance of 600 km in five days over very muddy roads and trails.

[12] In 1998 a group of Karachay-Cherkessia horsemen with three Karachay horses ascended the eastern summit of Mount Elbrus, the highest mountain in Europe - an unprecedented act.

Special credit goes to an expert on horse breeding, Klych Geriy Urusov, who was the mastermind behind this equestrian conquest of Elbrus.